Question - in a bind! Weight or volume?

[pretender]

Have a somewhat vague recipe from Therapy Garden for lotion making. Have all the materials, have a reasonably calibrated scale; but the 'recipe' does not specify whether to use ounces by weight or ounces by fluid volume of finished product for the Liquapar preservative.

Someone please, please help. I just do the research and don't know overmuch and Ma promised lotion for her kid by tomorrow.

 

[carebear]

post the link please

 

[pretender]

https://therapygarden.com/index.php?mai ... asy_lotion

Has us confuzled.

 

[carebear]

Not impressed by the formula, but anyway it's by volume (c = cup, fl = fluid ounces).

It should be formulated by weight and %, but I guess they think they needed to "dumb it down" for consumers. Go figure.

But in fact, they've complicated it because for the preservative they recommend the usage rate is by weight "Recommended preservative concentrations by weight: .5% to not more than 1%." I STRONGLY recommend not going over 1% because it can be irritating.

Taking a rough guess at how much the batch would weigh I'd say you should use NO MORE than 4.5 grams of the preservative.

 

[pretender]

Assuming it is arguably the most retarded formula ever - if you've a better 'beginner' formula - we are game. Just trying to knock out a very, very initial 12 oz bottle of simple, fragranced thing for the sister - proof of concept.

Yeah, it's a crappy, proprietary, mostly unworkable formula...hence the question.

Have stearic/citric acid, kaolin and bentonite clay, coconut oil - 72/96 variety, essential oils, you name it. Most of our efforts have been centered around M&P soaps thus far - moving into lotions is a fairly huge and fairly dangerous leap - so far we aren't commercial and our quality borders on artisan, batch type stuff.

So - we're trying to do it right, I can't find anything reasonably explanatory - and any real simple basic type stuff would help us out a lot. We can learn like hell after that...but right now, we're in a bit of a bind in that we have to hopefully have something simple and workable by morning.

Not a position I'd like to be in, but I'm just the intermediary on the computer.

 

[carebear]

20% olive oil
4.5% e-wax
4.5% stearic acid
6% honey
4% cider vinegar ( yes, you can slightly smell it in the finished thing)
61% water
PLUS PRESERVATIVE AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL

General instructions at
http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/In ... -p-16.html
I personally recommend holding both phases - ESPECIALLY THE WATER PHASE - for 20 minutes. You should heat and hold excess water because you will lose some to steam so will have to add back.

 

[pretender]

Will do so. Holy expletives - thanks!

 

[pretender]

Sorry, gotta make you revisit why you bother and whether ammo is cheap enough -

Got all the ordered stuff. Along with bases, coconut type crap, etc, etc - want a what not to do list, here is where to ask - still a nightly thing. Rest can support actual research.

 

[pretender]

Assuming things are mostly standardized due to basic chemistry - is preservative (liquapar! yaaaay!) measured by weight or by percentage of overall volume?

And if y'all think I am trolling - I am trying to watching the Nascar Nationwide race and figure out how to move cross-country. Eh.

 

[Lindy]

If you're going to use Germall Plus you would use .5% and if you are going to use Optiphen you'll use 1.5%. Germall plus has urea in it and can be a little more irritating to senstive skin than Optiphen. Read the directions from the supplier to know exactly what percentage to use for preserving.

Good luck - lotions are wonderful to make and use. You can evewn add some cornstarch to add a powdery "finish" to the lotion.

 

[pretender]

I knocked out a batch myself. Not for any public use at all. I guessed on a couple things, like preservative. (Math is not my forte, and I was fairly annoyed.)

Didn't congeal, nothing went wrong, used myself and brother for guinea pigs for a quick spot test...dunno about any claim as to "Not Tested on Animals" - but it didn't take our epidermis off.

Scrapped it. Stuff didn't take skin off, which was unacceptable!! (joke.) and was roughly akin to axle grease. Will be moisturized, sure - will also be able to repel nuclear fallout and EPA Superfund sites while you wander around like Sludge-Person. Way too oily.

EZ-Formula sucked as badly, though a totally non-formulaic dose of distilled water sorted it out quick. Again, only guinea pigs at this point are me, and....me. Mom eventually tried the stuff.

Soooo - there's the update. No innocent bystanders. Not offloading any suspect lotions out of the garage.

Mom wants an olive oil/shea butter based emollient...we finally figured out the percentage thing; finished yield...took me forever...and a solid, non-beginner recipe fer that would be very much appreciated.

Generosity stage here, and I'll cook it up myself if I have to - fair chance I will...but I'm starting from scratch here. Checked what I could find on various posts and it ain't entirely explanatory.

Say that ten times fast.

Help would be nice, or just links...no desire for proprietary stuff.

Been using Liquapar for preservative. Been harder to get a good formula overall than to worry about whether it will last.

I dunno. Gaaaaah.

 

[Best Natural Soap]

I like germabenII as a preservative for lotions.

Second, have you checked this forums' tutorials?